This application is entitled to the benefit of provisional application entitled xe2x80x9cRotary Piston Enginexe2x80x9d Application No. 60/289,240 filed on May 7, 2001.
This invention relates generally to the mechanism for interconnecting first- and second-shafts of variable speed rotation to a third shaft of constant speed rotation.
In U.S. Pat. No. 5,405,300 by the present inventor, Sakita, the present inventor described a gear mechanism that enables interconnecting first- and second-shafts of intermittent rotation. The present invention is an extension of the work presented in said patent.
An object of this invention is the provision of a mechanism for interconnecting first and second shafts of variable speed rotation to third shaft of constant rotation, in which mechanism, the designer is able to specify the rotational speed profiles of the first- and second-shafts.
The present invention includes differential means having first and second input shafts and an output shaft, together with first and second noncircular gear sets. Each of the first and second gear sets includes two types of intermeshing noncircular gears we call Sakita type 1 and type 2 gears (or type 1 and type 2 gears). The extension of the differential output becomes the output shaft, which is connected through a circular gear set to an idler shaft to which type 2 gears are affixed. The type 1 gears of the first and second gear sets are connected to the first and second differential input shafts, respectively. The type 1 gears rotate with widely varying speeds, while the type 2 gears rotate at the same rate as the output shaft of the engine. The differential assures that the sum of the rotational speed of the type 1 gears equals twice the rotational speed of the type 2 gears.